New Slang
by puttingpentopaper
Summary: What happens to Mai and Zuko after the Boiling Rock? Maiko. WARNING: Boiling Rock Spoilers, obviously. Geesh, I'm bad at writing summaries.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, so these are gonna be like related-oneshots, if that makes any sense. The first few chapters are gonna be more related than the ones later on, but these are just kinda ideas I come up with, and instead of making them seperate oneshots, I'm gonna try to make them work together. I just don't feel like making seperate stories for each of them, soo yeah.

**Disclaimer: I don't nor will I ever own avatar(blast!)**

The title of this came from the song New Slang by the Shins(I lurv them)

* * *

It was cool out, and there was a soft breeze. Zuko paid no mind to this break in the hot, muggy weather they had been enduring the past few days.

The rest of the gang was done celebrating the arrival of their three new members, and had begun to get ready for bed.

He had too much on his mind. He had thought joining the Avatar and his gang would put his mind at rest. It had for a while, until now.

When Zuko had left the Firenation, the only thing he had really left behind was Mai. He hadn't wanted to get her involved, so he plainly left a note saying he was leaving. He never wanted to even put an ounce of thought in her mind that would make her do something traitorous as he had done. He never thought he would see her until after Aang had defeated the Firelord and the war was over. Then he would explain everything to her and hopefully she would understand.

Things don't work out for Zuko that well.

Unfortunately when Zuko and Sokka went to the Boiling Rock prison, Zuko was discovered. Even more unfortunately, the warden just happened to be Mai's uncle and had told Mai he was there. Ultimately, it resulted in an unpleasant conversation, which Zuko had thought made her hate him even more.

Surprisingly enough, Mai had saved them. Now, well, that was what was bothering Zuko.

At the time he wanted to go back and get her out of there so she wouldn't have to face Azula, but he knew he couldn't. They had been able to get out alive, and he didn't want to put everyone at risk again. Especially since Sokka had newfound happiness in his two rescued loved ones.

He let out a sigh while leaning on a railing overlooking the cliff at the Western Air Temple. He wanted to know what happened to her. He wanted to know that she was ok. That Azula hadn't done anything too drastic.

He heard someone walk up behind him. He turned around to see who it was. Sokka joined Zuko in leaning on his railing. There was some silence before either one spoke.

Sokka was the first one to break the silence. "Hey man, are you all right?" he asked.

Zuko replied with a half sigh, half spoken answer, "Yeah." Sokka could barely here him.

"Its kinda obvious there's something wrong," Sokka said. He was afraid that Zuko was going to blow up on him, but it _was_ really obvious.

To Sokka's surprise, he didn't blow up on him. He just turned to look up at him and then shook his head before standing up straight.

"I'm just thinking about someone, that's all," he said, his gaze now straight ahead of him.

"Oh. Who are you thinking about, your uncle?" Sokka asked.

Zuko shook his head. "No. I know he's fine, wherever he is."

Sokka tried guessing again. Then it hit him. "You're thinking about your girlfriend, aren't you?"

He took Zuko's silence as the answer.

"I can't believe she did that. I mean, she never seemed like she wanted to really fight unless she had too. She even let us take the Earth King's bear without argument." Sokka looked at Zuko before to see if he was going to say anything before continuing. "Although, I can't blame her for that. That bear was a huge waste of space when we were traveling with the Earth King." Sokka paused again, still with no reply from his comrade. "She must really be into you to do that."

Zuko shook his head. He looked frustrated, and Sokka was afraid he had said something he shouldn't have. Zuko let out an agitated growl before speaking. "This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to betray Azula and get herself in trouble. Now I don't know what happened to her."

Sokka tried comforting him the best way he could. "I'm sure she's fine. I mean, I had known Suki was in trouble ever since I saw, well, your girlfriend and the other girl in the Kyoshi Warrior's uniforms, but I just had this feeling that she was going to be ok."

"Look, Sokka. Suki isn't Mai, okay? Suki didn't betray her best friend, who is crazy and has too much power than she needs, to save her friends brother," Zuko was starting to get agitated. He shouldn't have expected Sokka to understand.

"Well that should make everything better shouldn't it? I mean, your sister _was _friends with her, so she should have even more mercy on her. Right?" Sokka put on a fake grin, hoping he wasn't making Zuko more depressed.

He grabbed onto the railing tightly and tensed up, trying to hold in his anger as best as he could. "No, Sokka, with my sister it works the opposite way. If she trusted you and then you betray her, she won't have any mercy. That makes things ten times worse that Mai was close with her."

There was a silence between them. Sokka couldn't think of anything else to say without making things worse. Obviously Zuko knew more about what they were talking about than Sokka. He tried a different approach.

A small grin appeared on Sokka's face. He loved it when he came up with ideas. "Well, maybe we could go rescue her! I mean, we have the Firenation war balloon. We were able to infiltrate the Boiling Rock once, I'm sure we could do it again."

"No, we can't." Sokka's smile turned into a frown when Zuko shot down his idea. Zuko didn't seem to pay any mind and just continued, "Aang _has_ to learn more firebending now. We don't have any time to waste focusing on other things than defeating my father. We only have a few weeks before the end of summer and we have to be ready by then. Plus, even if we had the time, we couldn't go to the Boiling Rock. I highly doubt Azula would've put Mai there. Her uncle's the warden. She'd be too suspicious of him helping her. I'll just have to wait until the war is over, and hope she's still ok."

A deep breath escaped from Zuko. That seemed to be all he could do was hope. He had to hope his uncle was ok, and now Mai.

Sokka yawned and stretched out his arms. "It's getting late. I'm going to head off to bed. You should too."

Sokka placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder, knowing he couldn't do anything else. "I know it'll be hard, but try not to think about it too much. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Sokka headed off to bed.

After a few minutes, Zuko decided to follow his advice and try to sleep.

--

The next morning Zuko got up and headed off to breakfast, still groggy from his lack of sleep. He saw everyone jumbled together giving each other hugs. Confused, Zuko rubbed his eyes and proceeded over to the gang.

"What's going on?" he asked Aang.

"They're going to go rescue the other prisoners of war," Aang stated.

Zuko watched Katara and Sokka as they hugged Hakoda. He thought of his uncle and wondered where he was. He probably opened another teashop somewhere. The thought made him smile to himself.

He watched Haru, the Duke, Teo, and Chit Sang board the airship being lead by Hakoda, as they waved goodbye to everyone with big grins on their faces.

The gang sat there in silence watching the airship launch off until it was barely visible.

Toph was the first one to speak. "Well, now that that's over, let's eat! I'm starving!"

* * *

Well, I hoped you liked it. Chapter two is going to be coming sometime, but I'm not sure when. I honestly do think that in the show, all those people who left to save the war prisoners, are actually going to go save the war prisoners, because they aren't shown with the gang in the trailer or in that Ember Island Players clip. Just thought I'd let you know.

If you're a reader of my other story, don't worry, I'm still working on that. I'm almost finished with the next chapter, but I've been a lazy butt and had my mind occupied with other things.

If you're not a reader of my other story, then you should become one. Just sayin...


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, don't own Avatar.**

* * *

She had to admit this was definitely the most bored she had ever been. This was also the most uncomfortable she had ever been. The prison was filthy. There were bugs and grime everywhere.

Mai shuddered at the thought. How did she even end up here? She of course knew the answer, but not doing anything for two days gave her time to think it over more.

Two days. It definitely felt longer. She wondered how anyone lasted in here. Granted, most of the prisoners here were allowed a certain time period where they would clean up the mess hall and go into the yard and socialize, but not Mai. She had committed treason; she had gone against her country, just as he did.

She tried to shake the thought of Zuko out of her head. She wasn't going to give him the luxury of being on her mind. She had thought about him a few times, but tried to limit it to that. Instead, she let her thoughts drift to his uncle. The cell he used to reside in was located next to hers. She had seen it on her way up; the bars were completely broken through. When he spent his time here, he also had to remain in his cell the whole time. Not having contact with anyone else except for the guards.

One of the guards was decent enough to tell her that Ty Lee was not suffering the same fate. She was able to the things most prisoners here were able to do. Apparently it was because she was following Mai, not willing herself to do it on her own.

Mai hadn't seen Ty Lee since they arrived at the prison. She never really had time to talk to her, ask her why she did it. That really blew her mind. Ty Lee had really idolized Azula; she looked up to her. Mai never expected Ty Lee to choose Azula over her.

She lay on her mat, hoping to get some sleep. She still averaged about eight hours of sleep a day, but only got only two hours of sleep at a time, three at the most. She was aching all over, her back sore. She was used to sleeping in the highest quality beds, and on feathered pillows. This was far from what she was used to, and she hated it.

She heard someone walk up to her cell, but paid them no mind. It was probably just a guard delivering her food. Her eyes remained shut and she was still in her sleeping position as the door opened.

Whoever walked in cleared their throat, demanding her attention. Mai opened one eye to see who it was. To her surprise it was a familiar face.

She saw the princess study her in disgust. Mai sat up against the wall and glared at her. A playful smile appeared on Azula's face as she spoke.

"Well, Mai, don't you look…charming." The smile remained on her lips.

Mai ignored her and moved her gaze to the wall across from her, now refusing to look at the princess.

Azula continued mocking her. "You're really following in my brother's foot steps aren't you? You even have an alluring mark on your face. You two really are perfect you each other." Azula spat that last part. She couldn't control it.

Mai wasn't letting her anger show, her expression remained as stoic as ever. But inside, her blood was boiling. Mai knew what she was trying to do. Azula was trying to break her. This was a competition to see who would give in. Mai refused to lose.

When Azula mentioned the "alluring mark" she was talking about the two bruises on the left side of Mai's face. One was across her cheek. That was were she received the back of her uncle's hand when he heard what happened. The other one was under her eye on her cheekbone, which also had a large cut running through it. That was also from her uncle. He was angry for two reasons. One reason was that she was the one who broke his record. He planned on dying with his record for zero escapes, than living with one. He was furious. The other reason was that he had brought her there, hoping she would let out her anger on the ex-prince and making him more miserable. Instead she had helped him escape, and marked their family. Now, their family had a traitor in it.

Azula stood there waiting for Mai's response, but got none. That was starting to agitate her. "What, aren't you going to say anything?" she asked growing annoyed.

This time when Azula spoke, you could hear anger in her voice. "Don't you regret anything? Don't you regret saving Zuko just to be thrown in this cell? Don't you regret betraying me? Honestly Mai, was it really worth it?" she asked still trying to break her once close friend.

Mai locked her eyes with Azula's as she spoke for the first time. "What do you want me to say? I'm sorry? You know I'm not the groveling type. If you came down here just to hear me apologize, you wasted a trip," she spat.

Mai was no longer afraid of Azula. She realized this at the Boiling Rock, when Azula confronted her there. This realization made Azula even more angry.

"You should be on your hands and knees kissing my feet right now! I spared your life! You should beg, plead for my forgiveness!" Azula lost it. This time, Ty Lee wasn't there to stop her, and Mai didn't have any of her weapons. She shot a small, but powerful blue flame right at Mai, hitting her in her side.

Mai grabbed her side and hissed in pain. She couldn't see, her eyes watering from the pain. When she looked up she noticed the princess was gone and her cell door closed.

Mai tried to slide down to lay on her mat, but it took about five minutes to do so. At first, it felt like someone just punched her really hard, but once that pain started to wear off, she could feel it burning.

She lifted up her rag of a shirt to reveal the mark. She was relieved to see it wasn't as large as she thought, but it still stung.

--

After a couple of hours Mai was finally able to get to sleep. Her earlier encounter just made this whole prison experience worse.

She heard some sort of commotion, but paid no mind to it. It was probably just a riot. She heard someone running through the hallways. She sat up slowly, holding her side as she heard someone open the door.

It looked like a guard, until he took his helmet off to reveal someone who looked like they were from the Water Tribe. She saw another man who looked similar to him enter the room too.

They looked at her before asking, "Are you one of the Kyoshi Warriors?"

She looked at them confused, "Kyoshi Warriors?" She had heard that name before, but she couldn't remember where. Then she realized that those were the fighters they had infiltrated to get into Ba Sing Se. "No…no." She had to add that second no in there. She would _never_ "be" a Kyoshi Warrior again. Then she realized she probably just lost her chance at escape. She mentally scolded herself.

They both looked at her in confusion. The one who had entered the room first asked, "How did you end up in here? You can't be much older than my son." Then man looked like he had just recognized an old friend. "I know who you are. You're that girl who helped us escape from the Boiling Rock. You're Zuko's girlfriend, right?"

She opened her mouth to tell him that they weren't dating anymore, but decided against it and just nodded in agreement.

He gave the other man a signal and he came over and broke the lock on her cell. "Come on, you can come with us. My name is Hakoda, and this is Bato."

Mai was slow to get up and the two realized she was hurt. They ran to her side and offered her support on the side that was burned.

Once they had reached the end of the hallway, they met up with another group of prisoners.

"Come on, let's get out of here before they find backup," Hakoda commanded. He was obviously the leader.

Mai had to stop him, "Wait. There's someone else we need to get out of here. My friend Ty Lee was locked up in here too."

Hakoda nodded. He turned to another man who was from the Water Tribe, "Get everyone out of here. Bato and I will look for her." He turned to Mai; "You go with them. We'll meet up at the airship outside."

She was handed over to a kid around her age with a creepy moustache. He helped her walk as they got out of the prison.

Once outside she inhaled the fresh air. _At least that's over_ she thought to herself.

* * *

Okay, since it is now summer, I should be able to update more. I'm even planning on having another chapter up by Friday!

Thanks to everyone who reviews, you're made of win.


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, so I kinda lied about getting a chapter up two weeks ago. I'm really sorry. I really was, then I became really lazy, and then the week after that I went on vacation, but I'm back. And I have chapter three.

Thanks for the reviews. They make my day.

* * *

The large group of war prisoners, plus Mai and Ty Lee, were camping out in a large field surrounded by trees. Everyone was scattered into different groups. There were way too many of them to be in one crowd. Mai's group consisted of her, Ty Lee, and the Kyoshi Warriors.

Her wounds were tended, but not completely healed. There were waterbenders, but they didn't have healing powers as some waterbenders did. Mai didn't mind though. The only waterbenders happened to be "swamp guys" as everyone referred to them as. They were smelly, disgusting, and refused to wear pants, saying pants were just "an illusion".

So, there she was, sitting at their group's small fire, appearing to be mesmerized by its flames. She was thinking, as she often found herself doing recently. She hardly paid any mind to the conversation Ty Lee was having with some of the Kyoshi Warriors, catching only a few words here and there every once in a while.

When Ty Lee had arrived at the prison, she had to mop up the floors and do other chores just as the other prisoners did, which meant she could socialize with other prisoners. At first, none of them talked to her. The Kyoshi Warriors would whisper to each other and glare at her. After they heard what she did, a couple of them (ones who didn't get paralyzed by her from their previous encounter) decided they should talk to her. They figured she was a prisoner too, and it would make her stay less miserable. Eventually Ty Lee had grown on them, and the practically accepted her as one of their own, especially since she was the only other girl around their age there.

At the present, Mai was thinking about her current situation. It felt so surreal as to how she got here. A few weeks ago, everything seemed perfect. She was nobility; she had luxury, wealth, and comfort. She was dating the prince of the Fire Nation. She was content, for once in her life. Now, Zuko betrayed the Fire Nation to join the Avatar, she helped him and his friends escape from her Uncle's prison, Azula had attacked her, and now she was hiding out with members of the other two nations with whom she used to be at war with.

Mai sighed. This was nothing like she expected her life to be. Mai turned her attention to the conversation, which was apparently ending.

"Well, I'm going to bed."

"Yeah, me too." The two Kyoshi Warriors who were sharing a tent with Mai and Ty Lee got up and headed into their tent.

Ty Lee yawned and stretched out her arms. "I think I might go to bed soon too. I'm pretty tired. How about you, Mai?" she asked her friend.

Mai sat there for a minute before answering. "I suppose." There was something she really needed to talk to Ty Lee about. This was the first time she was really able to talk to Ty Lee in private. Its not that it was a big secret, she just wouldn't feel comfortable talking about it with others around.

Mai looked up at her friend. "Ty Lee, thanks."

Ty Lee gave Mai a confused look. "For what?"

"For what you did back at the Boiling Rock. I didn't expect you to do that."

Ty Lee replied, "Of course I was going to do that. If I hadn't Azula would've burned you to a crisp." She said this with a smile on her face. Mai wondered how she could be happy, even with their current situation.

Mai continued. She hated this emotional bonding stuff. "Why'd you do it? I mean, I know you've always looked up to Azula, so why would you betray her for me?"

"Because, Mai, you're my friend too, and I couldn't have her do that to you. If you were going to attack Azula first, then I probably would've done the same to you. Plus, you didn't betray Azula in spite of her, you did it out of _love_." She hugged her friend before continuing. "I'm so proud of you, Mai. I never would've though you'd feel so much for someone that you'd risk your life to save theirs. It's _so _romantic."

Mai removed her friend's arms from her. She hated when Ty Lee talked like that. She looked at her friend who was staring at her with a big grin on her face. Mai just rolled her eyes.

"So, Mai, what's it feel like to be in _love_," Ty Lee asked, her grin growing wider.

Mai just shook her head and stood up. "I'm going to bed."

Ty Lee's smile faded as she flipped up and started chasing after her friend. "Aww, come on, Mai. Please. I just want to know!"

Mai didn't even look back at her before replying, "You're acting ridiculous Ty Lee. Just go get some sleep." Mai pulled back the flap of their tent and flopped down onto her mat, which was definitely more comfortable than the one she had at the prison.

Ty Lee entered and lied down on her mat next to Mai. "Please?" she whispered as to not wake the other two.

"Go to sleep, Ty Lee" Mai replied growing more annoyed by the second.

"Fine!" Ty Lee huffed before rolling over.

Mai smiled to herself for just a second, she definitely like being in love.

* * *

Ok, sorry for the really cheese-filled ending. I didn't know how to end it. And this one is kinda short, but there's not much I could do with it. Next chapter will probably have Zuko in it, but I might do another Mai one. Who knows, I'm leaning more towards Zuko, so... yeah.

I appreciate reviews (hint hint)

EDIT: I knew there was something else I wanted to add in this chapter. Thanks to DarkJackel for reminding me!


	4. Chapter 4

WARNING: Contains spoilers from Ember Island Players. They aren't huge or anything, but just in case...

* * *

Zuko was gazing out at the ocean, in a peaceful tranquility. It was nice, having time to himself for once. The past few weeks were hectic. He had to gain the trust of the "gang" by helping them out and go on "missions" with them. He had to admit he did enjoy spending time with them. It helped keep his mind off of all the chaos.

Currently, they were making residence at Zuko's parents' house on Ember Island after Azula discovered the previous campsite at the Western Air Temple.

Zuko had never been a huge fan of Ember Island. They had returned from the play about themselves named "The Boy in the Iceberg" a few hours ago. Zuko and everyone else had never been so happy to see a play end. It was the most humiliating thing he had ever experienced, and he had been humiliated a lot in his life. At least it wasn't only him. He probably felt the worse for Aang, who was played by a girl. Still, it was ridiculous at how he was portrayed. All his character did was yell at people and angst!

He tried to shake off the play. He was trying to relax before they faced his father. This was their last chance at victory, if they didn't win this time, they didn't have another chance. The war would be over, but not in their favor.

He knew Aang could do it. He had seen him train, and he was ready. Aang just needed to believe in himself. He had grown to be a very talented firebender, along with the other elements. He had also learned how to use certain bending styles with different elements, just how Zuko's uncle taught Zuko how to redirect lightning. Aang was a smart kid. Zuko's father will be in for a surprise.

Zuko now found himself looking around, locating familiar things. He had a love/hate relationship with Ember Island. It brought back so many memories of happier times. All of them ended up including the three people he cared about most, but weren't with him anymore. His mother, his uncle, and Mai.

He saw the area of private beach where he would build sandcastles with his mother, only to be destroyed by Azula minutes after he finished. He saw the Pai Sho table where his uncle had tried to teach him how to play. He remembered his uncle lecturing about how great the game is and how it could come in handy when Zuko had commented on it being a "dumb game". Zuko smiled to himself, he still didn't quite understand it, though apparently Aang took a liking to it.

And then he saw the hammock that he had laid in with Mai as they watched the sunset, which she approved of because instead of the orange glow the sunrise possessed, it gave off a deep red color as it sunk into the ocean. He had enjoyed that day, away from Azula and Ty Lee, as opposed to the previous day, where they hung out at the beach and went to that stupid party. The second day, all they did was lounge around and hang out, and that's what both of them needed. After the previous night, Mai had even opened herself up more, but only around him. He loved that she finally felt completely comfortable around him, and he felt just as comfortable around her.

He missed her so much. He told himself the first thing he was going to do after they defeated his father and sister, was go and find her, whatever prison she might be locked up in. He hated thinking of her being locked up in some cold, dark cell. He still felt guilty about leaving her behind at the Boiling Rock. Maybe his karma will pay off. Zuko scoffed at this idea. When did anything ever pay off for him?

Suddenly he heard a screech from overhead and jerked his head to see what it was. He saw a messenger hawk fly towards the house. Oh no. What if they had been discovered again? He sprinted off in the direction of the hawk to find Katara, Aang, and Toph huddled around. He saw Katara's face light up. She was the first one to speak.

"Oh my gosh! Sokka! Someone go get Sokka!" she said enthusiastically. He then saw Aang run off to find Sokka, who had gone somewhere with Suki.

Then he heard Toph pipe up, "What? What does it say?"

"It's from Dad! It says they rescued the others, and they got out of there safely!" she answered. The grin on her face was huge. Zuko smiled. Katara and Sokka had always seemed close to their dad. They seemed like a really close family.

Sokka came running through followed by Suki and Aang. He ripped the letter out of Katara's hands and started scanning it. Soon enough, Sokka wore a grin even wider than Katara's, which was nearly impossible.

Suddenly to Katara's surprise, Sokka squeezed her into a hug. After he let her go, he had his hands on her shoulders and started shaking her as he screamed what she already knew.

"Dad rescued the prisoners! They got out of there! He even said it was easy! He rescued Bato, and Haru's dad, and Pipsqueak, and the Swamp Guys, and the Kyoshi Warriors, and-" suddenly Sokka stopped and let go of his sister, who was very grateful. He started walking over to Zuko with a smile still on his face. He was a character, but Zuko had come to like Sokka. He put his arm around Zuko's shoulder as he handed the letter to him. "I think you'll want to read this." He removed his arm and stood there watching Zuko anxiously as he read the letter to himself.

_Sokka, Katara, Aang, Toph, Suki, and Zuko,_

_I just wanted to give everyone an update, and let you know we're okay. Our mission was a success! We were able to locate the prison rather quickly, thanks to Zuko's directions. To our surprise, it wasn't too heavily guarded and we were able to get in fairly easily. The cells were easy to access, and once we rescued a few prisoners, they spread out and helped with the rescue. The guards didn't even know what hit them. We even got out of there with two extra prisoners. I'm sure Zuko will be happy to know that Bato and I found Mai in one of the cells. I remembered that she'd helped us out at the Boiling Rock. Her friend, Ty Lee, was also locked up there, and now both of them are traveling with us._

_From,_

_Hakoda_

_P.S. Sokka, write us back to let us know if you need help with anything for the next time. Everyone's in good shape and wishes to help out._

After Zuko finished reading the letter, he was speechless. He couldn't believe they rescued Mai. She was okay! And Ty Lee was with her too. He'd have to find out what happened there.

"My dad's the greatest. Isn't he, Zuko?" Sokka asked, his grin still huge.

Zuko nodded his head, "Yeah. Thanks Sokka."

Sokka stood there swelling with joy, "Hey, don't thank me. Thank my dad next time you see him."

"I will."

"Hey! I still don't know what's going on! Why is Sokka's dad the greatest?!" Toph popped up. She hated not knowing what was happening.

Sokka had started to hand her the letter, "Here just rea- oh, never mind." He pulled the letter back, and began reading it to her.

"Isn't that great?!" he asked Toph after he finished reading it.

Toph stood there with an indifferent look on her face, "Eh, I suppose. At least Zuko can stop brooding now that his girlfriend's okay."

Zuko snapped out of his thoughts at Toph's comment. "Hey! I wasn't brooding."

"Sure you weren't," was her only reply as she leaned back, and started picking her toes. Zuko had a disgusted look on his face as he watched the young earthbender. She definitely was not a lady.

Zuko rolled his eyes. At least now he had one less person to worry about. He still wanted to see her. At least he knew she was okay, and that was good enough for now.

* * *

I finally willed myself to write this, and after writers block, phone calls from three different people, and a power-outage, I finished it!

I'll definately get a new chapter up this week. I really will, I promise guys.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I love it as much as Zuko loves Mai. ; )


	5. Chapter 5

It was over

It was over. Aang defeated the Firelord. Zuko had defeated his sister, and was now to be the new Firelord. The war had ended, and they would have to work at restoring peace among the nations.

All of this dawned on Zuko as he gazed over the Firenation's capital city. He was standing on the balcony located on the tower of the palace, where just a few months ago he had been looking down at his nation as their returning prince. The crowd below him had been cheering.

Now, it was empty. He saw the palace grounds, damaged and burned from the fierce fight that had taken place just hours ago. He saw some smoke in the distance, where flames from the battle had been reduced to ash.

The wind ruffled at his hair and clothes, or at least what was left of them. He hadn't bothered to change out of his clothes from the battle, which had numerous holes, and half of his sleeves were gone. He had received some painful blows, but Katara had healed them before stalked off to his current location.

It was up to him to rebuild his nation. He'd have to make them understand why the Firenation was wrong, and after a hundred years believing their nation was the good guy, Zuko already knew he was going to have trouble convincing them. He was too young; he shouldn't have to deal with this. Most of the nation didn't even know he was the Firelord yet, and he was already stressing. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

Zuko scoffed at the idea. Of course it was going to be bad. He knew the politicians and the generals. He knew his people. They are not going to be pleased about any of this, and they aren't going to accept his way of thinking easily. They're a stubborn people who are set in their ways. A sixteen-year-old formerly banished traitor prince isn't going to change their minds easily.

Zuko heard someone approaching him. He turned his head slightly to the person, but didn't bother to look at them.

"I thought I asked to be alone for a while," he said, still not looking at the visitor. He knew who it was.

The familiar voice of his uncle proved he was right. Zuko and his uncle had met up before the battle. There Zuko had apologized for everything. Iroh, of course, forgave him with a hug and was just relieved to see Zuko realized his true destiny.

"I know, but there is someone here to see you. I didn't think you'd mind the intrusion."

Zuko put his head down, closed his eyes, and inhaled a deep breath, which he slowly let out. Great, there was already some politician here to question him.

This time, another familiar voice proved him wrong. "Hey Zuko," was all she had to say in her dry monotone, and he knew who it was.

Zuko's heart leapt. He spun around and his eyes met hers. He studied her with his mouth agape. She looked so different. Her jet black hair was pulled into a loose bun, which looked like it took her two seconds to arrange, rather than her normal style that looked like it took hours to do. She was wearing average, form fitting Firenation clothes, rather than the elegant robes he was accustomed to seeing her in. She had bruises on her otherwise flawless face, and he could see bandages wrapping around her stomach under her shirt, which he would have to find out who was responsible for that. But, he knew it was still Mai.

Mai raised an eyebrow at him. He looked like an idiot staring at her like that. She knew she didn't look very presentable, but she didn't have time nor the resources to fix herself up. It didn't matter though. She came here for an answer. She wanted to know whether or not he still wanted her. She hadn't exactly thought of how she was going to find this out. She figured she'd show up and see what he did, but him just staring at her wasn't helping. She didn't know what to say so just waited until he hopefully would snap out of it. She crossed her arms, and shifted uncomfortably waiting.

He mouthed her name, but no sound escaped. All of the sudden he sprung forward and sent his mouth crashing down onto hers, and arms wrapping around her waist. He wasn't exactly sure how she would react, he was just happy she hadn't pushed him away yet.

She stepped back a step, from the loss of balance from the force of the kiss. Slowly, she let her body relax, and uncrossed her arms. She rested them on his chest. For a second Zuko thought she was going to push him away, so he pulled her closer, not wanting to lose the moment.

Finally, they broke the kiss, and held each other in a warm embrace. Zuko's hands were near the top of her back. One was stroking her hair near the bottom of her head. Mai's arms were just wrapped around his neck holding him close. She didn't realize how much she had missed him until then. His warmth, his feel, his scent, his taste. Her head was buried into his shoulder, inhaling his familiar aroma.

Zuko looked up and saw his uncle watching them smiling. Zuko smiled back at him, and watched as his uncle bowed and walked away. Zuko lifted his head to look at her again. He saw her smile, barely, but it was still there. Then he noticed something he thought he'd never see.

"Mai, are you crying?" he asked. She looked at him, with a somewhat annoyed look on her face.

"No," she said. She could feel the word get caught in her throat. She barely noticed the tear that was slowly traveling down her face.

Zuko lifted his hand and wiped the tear away with his thumb. And rested his hand against her cheek. "Really?" His tone suggested he knew she was lying.

Mai gave up. She hated the effect he had on her. "Maybe. I don't know," she sniffed. She felt so stupid and vulnerable. How could she be crying? She wasn't even upset.

Zuko noticed the bruises again and looked back down at the bandages on her stomach. "What happened?"

Mai sighed. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Azula?"

"Yep. My uncle wasn't too happy either."

Zuko just shook his head. And looked back into her eyes. "How do you feel? Does it still hurt?"

"I'll be fine," was her only reply, which meant it was still hurting her.

"Come on, I'll take you to Katara, she can heal it for you." He grabbed her hand and started walking, but noticed she wasn't following. She just stood there.

"I'll go see her later. I don't want to leave just yet." She pulled him back and grabbed his other hand.

"Are you sure? Because, it won't take long. I mean she won't mind or anything, and it'll feel a lot better afterwards. It's –" he was cut off by her lips lightly kissing his. He went to deepen the kiss just as she pulled away and found himself dumbly looking like he was kissing the air.

"When I said I'll be fine, I meant it." she didn't want to go see everyone now. She was enjoying her time alone with Zuko.

Zuko gave up. "If your sure…" he noticed her face was only inches away from his. She kept coming in closer, they're faces practically touching before she stopped and spoke.

"I'm sure." And with that went in for another kiss. This one, deeper and more sensual than the last.

After they pulled away, their breathing became more ragged and uneven. They rested their foreheads against each other's. Zuko looked into her eyes and smiled warmly, which she returned.

For once, everything felt perfect.

* * *

Yay, for once, I actually got a chapter up when I said I would. Okay, so I'm pretty sure this story is over, but I'm planning on making a sequal. At first, I was just going to add more to this story, but it wouldn't flow right if I did. So, not sure what the sequal is going to be called yet, but I already have ideas on whats going to happen. But, its not going to come out until after the finale.

Anway, thanks everyone who read this.

And thanks for the reviews. I must be old meat cause you guys spoil me. ; )

--puttingpentopaper--


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